Axel Fontaine

Name: Axel Jae-hyun Fontaine

Gender: Male

Age: 19

Grade: 12th

School: George Hunter High School

Hobbies and Interests: Music, guitar, singing, partying, fighting, video games, fantasy novels

Appearance: Axel stands at 5'10" and 160 pounds; he appears fairly skinny but carries a good amount of lean muscle on him. He takes mostly after his father, with his angular features, high cheekbones, Greek nose, and prominent lower lip, but his mother's heritage shows in his narrowed eyes, pale tawny skin and black hair. His hair falls to just above his shoulders and is chopped and layered rather haphazardly, with side bangs sweeping to his right. He has been bleaching and dyeing his hair bright ruby-red for a couple of years, and generally has an inch or two of black showing in his roots.

The bridge of Axel's nose has been pushed noticeably to his left after having been broken several times. He has quite a few small scars on his face. He wears a number of piercings, including four lip rings with two on each side of his lower lip, dimple piercings, an anti-eyebrow piercing on his right side, an industrial piercing in his right ear and a spiral piercing in his left ear. He has a prominent tattoo of a silver chain wrapped around his neck.

Axel generally wears jeans with a variety of band t-shirts. He constantly wears a very faded grey-blue plaid jacket, which he wraps around his waist when the weather doesn't permit wearing it normally. He wears a pair of Dr. Martens boots with inch-high soles regardless of the weather, and often wears a pair of black leather fingerless gloves. On the day of the trip he was wearing his usual jacket, boots and gloves along with a black Fleetwood Mac t-shirt and black skinny jeans with a rip in the right knee.

Biography: Axel Fontaine was born on January 23rd, 1999 to Declan Fontaine and Eun-kyung Kang in Seattle, Washington. Declan hailed originally from Memphis, Tennessee and had moved to Seattle for school; Eun-kyung was an exchange student from Seoul hoping to stay in the US after graduating. The couple were both 20 and juniors at the University of Washington when their son was born; they had been together for less than a year when Eun-kyung became pregnant and were very unprepared for parenthood, but nonetheless chose to go forward with the pregnancy. The three lived together in a small apartment in student housing, as both parents tried to balance school, work, and caring for an infant. The strain became too much for Eun-kyung, who dropped out of school to care for Axel, picking up odd jobs to supplement Declan's meager salary as a construction worker.

A year later, Declan graduated, and he, Eun-kyung and infant Axel moved into an even smaller apartment on the outskirts of the city. Declan planned to save up to eventually upgrade to a larger place, but he rarely had any money to spare, and what he did have was spent on alcohol, cigarettes, and babysitters on the frequent nights he and Eun-kyung went out partying. Axel spent many nights without his parents, but he spent all of his days with Eun-kyung, and while Declan was not home often he doted over his son whenever he got the chance.

Entering preschool, Axel was a very energetic and cheerful child, quick to make friends and come up with new games to play. Though he did not bond particularly closely with any of his classmates, he was a generally well-liked and welcome playmate. He was, however, known to have a bit of a quick temper at a very early age, and would lash out quickly when irritated. This was rarely an issue at this point in his life. Because of the relative poverty of his family, Axel had very few toys and a very limited wardrobe that included several repurposed old shirts of Declan's. The one thing he did have that he loved was his father's collection of CDs. He especially enjoyed listening to music with his father, who seemed truly happy when Fleetwood Mac or Tom Petty were playing. Axel clearly idolized Declan despite his many obvious flaws, wanting to emulate him as much as possible.

In late November of 2004, when Axel was 5, a terrible accident occurred. Declan and Eun-kyung went out partying, leaving Axel with a babysitter, as they did on a fairly regular basis. However, they drove to the bar, and Declan insisted he was okay to drive the pair home. The resulting car accident was deadly, killing Eun-kyung instantly and Declan within hours of the accident. The couple in the car they crashed into were also killed. This occurred late at night, while Axel was asleep; he woke up with no one present but James Fontaine, Declan's brother, who would become Axel's legal guardian.

Eun-kyung's family lived in Seoul, and Declan was estranged from most of his family outside of his older brother James, who agreed to take care of Axel, who had to relocate to Memphis to live with his new father. He hadn't spent much time with his uncle in the past, due to the distance and James's busy schedule as a surgeon, but they had met a few times and Axel was reasonably fond of him. James, for his part, truly wanted to be a good father to his nephew. Unfortunately for both of them, James found himself wildly unprepared for the realities of parenthood. His schedule meant that he was forced to hire a babysitter practically constantly, and his little free time was eaten up by taking care of Axel. He found himself resentful of Axel and especially of Declan, who he'd already had a somewhat contentious relationship with that was only strained more when he learned that his death had been caused by his own choice to drive drunk. Axel's obvious resemblance to his deceased father did not help matters. While he did not actively abuse Axel, he became neglectful over time, as he was unable to keep his anger at Declan from seeping through to his interactions with Axel and decided that the best thing he could do was interact with his nephew as little as possible.

This was a very tumultuous time for Axel, who had to deal with both the loss of his parents and a sudden dramatic change of location. He had no cause to have to confront the idea of death before his parents died, and at the age of five his ability to understand the concept was still shaky, but he understood that his parents were gone, and that they would not be coming back. The only things he had to remember them by were his father's CD collection and some of his clothes, including an old blue plaid jacket that he began using as a security blanket. He spent several weeks at home attempting to adjust to his new circumstances before being thrown into a new school. He became withdrawn, almost sullen, spending as little time as possible interacting with his classmates. Instead he spent more and more time listening to his father's music. He also started reading a lot during this time. His ability to read was limited by his age, but it was a good distraction for him to try and puzzle his way through books, especially because generally people would generally leave him alone when he was reading. Though he was for the most part well-behaved at school and did his work, it was clear to his teacher he was not trying. His temper also grew more pronounced, and he would habitually snap at other students for trying to interact with or befriend him. With only his father's things to remember, and only his father's brother present, over time his memories of his mother began to fade, and it was not until he was a teenager that he would have the resources to make any attempt to get in contact with that side of his family again.

Toward the end of the school year, despite getting his work done, it became clear to Axel's teacher that he was suffering, and she called Child Protective Services to check up on his situation. Though James was clearly trying, it was the opinion of CPS that he was an unfit parent, and Axel was removed from his care less than a year after moving to Memphis. He was moved into Tennessee's foster care system, and was soon moved into what would be the first of many foster homes in Franklin. Though he was still very depressed and felt that he had gotten James into trouble somehow, he was somewhat hopeful that this new family would be better, especially because he had an older foster brother, the biological son of his new parents, where he had never had a sibling before. Unfortunately it didn't take long before it became obvious that this home wasn't a good fit. His older brother, Mason, was extremely resentful of having a new sibling and took out his anger on Axel, and Axel's own temper was provoked, resulting in near-constant fights. The last straw came a little under a year after his placement in a fight that grew physical, and Mason, who was three years older than Axel and significantly stronger than him, broke Axel's nose. He was hospitalized for a short time and quickly removed from the home. This experience embittered Axel. It was not fair, he thought, that his new parents, who had been nothing but kind to him, would abandon him for something that wasn't his fault. Having lost his birth parents, his uncle, and now his first foster family, Axel, at the age of seven, began to wonder if there was something irreparably wrong with him.

Axel spent the next five years in a total of eight different foster homes across Tennessee. The first two homes Axel tried to stay on his best behavior, hoping that he could be good enough that someone would keep him, but his temper still flared at times. He was never entirely sure why he those two families didn't want him to stay, but the experiences firmly planted the idea that he was in some way unlovable in his mind. Though at first this made him withdraw further, it wasn't long before he began lashing out, no longer caring about what his subsequent new families thought of him, never accepting them as his because he knew they would soon give up on him. During this time he moved around rapidly, constantly disrupting his academic and social life. He worked hard at keeping up in school, as it provided a good distraction from his other problems, but he did not socialize with others at all and grew increasingly volatile toward other students. Though he did not seek out conflict, he would blow up immediately when even slightly provoked, often by innocuous things, and at a couple of points got into physical fights. The only comforts Axel had were his father's things and his constant trips to the library. He was extremely protective of Declan's possessions and kept them close no matter how many times he moved. Along with listening to Declan's CDs, he at this point had learned the words to nearly every song and would often sing along. A number of Axel's foster parents and siblings over the years, who often avoided speaking to him for fear of making him angry, commented on his strong singing voice, putting the seeds in his mind of the possibility that he might make music himself one day. His reading level was quite advanced due to his love of books, and he found himself falling in love with fantasy novels meant for middle school and even high school students. The scenarios in the books he read provided an escape that he desperately needed.

When Axel was 12, midway through his first year of middle school, he moved to Chattanooga, into the home of Gregory and Lisa Rhodes. The Rhodes were warned before they took in Axel that he was a problem child with a history of being combative, but were happy to take him in regardless, certain that they could help him. Axel was just beginning puberty and was hitting a major growth spurt at this time, which only seemed to make him more volatile. Gregory and Lisa did not have other children, which avoided the worst of the problems, as Axel was far harsher with other kids than with adults, but he was still constantly testy, pushing his limits, seemingly trying to push the Rhodes to give up on him. But they refused, consistently meeting his anger and bitterness with kindness and understanding. This confused but didn't calm Axel, who had internalized too thoroughly at this point that he would never truly accepted. When he realized that they refused to be pushed away by his being confrontational toward them, he became even more problematic at school. So much as a wayward glance toward him would be taken as an invitation toward conflict, and in junior high Axel got in a number of physical fights, eventually resulting in a temporary expulsion, causing him to repeat the eighth grade.

Spending the better part of a year out of school actually allowed Axel to cool off somewhat. The Rhodes, rather than punishing him, tried to help him find other outlets for his energy. They considered enrolling him in a martial art, but feared that giving Axel any sort of actual combat training might make him more prone to fighting, not less. Gregory was an avid reader himself and bought Axel a number of new fantasy novels, allowing him to indulge in his love of reading at home and occasionally managed to engage Axel in conversation about them. He also bought Axel his first game system, a Playstation 3, which ended up taking up much of his time. His taste in video games resembled his taste in literature, as he preferred grand role-playing games that allowed him to escape to another world. Lisa, on the other hand, noticed Axel's love of music and his fondness for singing. He bought him a guitar, which Axel took to immediately, remembering his vague ideas about making music one day and latching onto the idea of being a rock star, like the ones his father had admired. Despite the Rhodes' reticence to encourage him, fighting still evolved for Axel from a tool to defend himself into a hobby. While it would be a few years before he had friends close enough that he could stage fights for fun, when he had the energy he would practice against invisible opponents in the comfort of his room. He tried to keep this a secret from his parents, though after a broken lamp became a point of contention he was forced to reveal the truth. The Rhodes chose not to punish him, simply trusting his promise that he wouldn't actually hurt anyone and it was just a way to let off steam.

When Axel returned to school he was significantly calmer, though still quick to anger when directly confronted and still considered dangerous to many by reputation. He finished eighth grade with relatively little incident and graduated junior high at age fifteen. His relationship with the Rhodes at this point was fairly relaxed, though Axel never went out of his way to show them affection, still wary of allowing himself to form a real bond. Over the summer leading up to the beginning of high school, Axel became determined to reinvent himself. He realized that he'd been impossible to deal with in the past and was quite lonely, as he'd had next to no friends in junior high due to his attitude. He practiced his guitar and his singing, hoping to impress others with his talent. Over that summer, with his parents' blessing, he bleached his hair, dyed it fire-engine red, and got his first two piercings, a lip ring and his industrial.

As he began high school Axel was surprised and delighted to find that he was right, and that his voice and his guitar playing did get him some attention. With his constant rage quenched, he was surprisingly charming, and had an easy time getting along with others, though some who knew his past were still wary of him. Emboldened by the positive attention, Axel fell totally into the persona of the too-cool, charismatic and womanizing rock star. He attended every party he could, usually with guitar in hand, and developed a taste for alcohol and marijuana. It was around this time that Axel started smoking cigarettes as well, a habit that he keeps up today, smoking 4-5 cigarettes per day and significantly more when he's stressed or angry. He also developed a taste for casual hookups, and became somewhat notorious over his high school career for sleeping his way through a sizable portion of George Hunter's party set. As he didn't have much positive interaction with others in junior high, it wasn't until high school that Axel came to the realization that, while he was certainly interested in girls, he was even more interested in boys. While he never had any problem with any LGBTQ+ people, being interested in men ran counter to Axel's conception of himself, and he did his best to repress his feelings. They would inevitably come out when he was drinking, though, and his list of male conquests is nearly as long as his list of female ones. While he is not open about his sexuality, and only talks about it to a few of his closest friends, thanks to the rumor mill at George Hunter it is fairly well known that he has hooked up with guys in the past.

While Axel cast a wide social net, he allowed few people to get close enough to him to learn about his past or his insecurities. Two exceptions were his closest friends, Helena Fury and Andy Silverman. Axel was quite close to Andy, though their friendship came to blows on a regular basis, but Hel was truly his closest friend, as well as a constant crush of his from the day they met. The trio soon became not just friends but bandmates, as they started jamming for fun and realized they worked quite well together as a band. Their band practice meetings are more excuses to hang out and get drunk or high than anything else, but there are few things in Axel's life that he treasures more. His friendship with Andy also marked an opportunity for Axel to start fighting again, for fun rather than out of anger. The two boys spar regularly, and while they are both quite reckless and injuries are common, it has only deepened their friendship. Over time he has made more friends who are similarly willing to fight for fun, and though his parents worry about his well-being he would not give up that part of his life for anything.

Axel's relationship to his parents and his general temper remained relatively stable up until his sophomore year. At that point Gregory and Lisa brought two new foster children into their home named Andrei and Alice, two biological siblings, 14 and 12 years old respectively. This completely destroyed the equilibrium in their home, immediately reversing all progress the Rhodes had made in getting Axel to warm up to them. He unfairly perceived the move as his parents attempting to replace him, or as them wanting to have children more deserving of their love. From this point on Axel would never trust his parents again. The Rhodes, for their part, had always been very lenient parents to Axel, and they continued to be, essentially allowing him to walk all over them. Though Axel was initially resentful toward his new siblings, it occurred to him that they were going through the same things he had gone through, and if the Rhodes were going to be bad parents, he could at least try to be a good brother. His relationship toward Andrei is slightly strained, as Andrei is very shy and sensitive and is intimidated by both Axel's temper toward their parents and his general look and attitude. He introduced his brother to his small library of fantasy novels, which made some progress in giving them something to bond over. Alice and Axel got along right away, as Alice was immediately fascinated by his musicianship and insisted Axel teach her to play guitar. The three siblings all enjoy video games together as well, and generally enjoy each other's company, though things tend to quickly become tense when the Rhodes are around.

Following this Axel's temper came back, though tempered by the many ways he'd changed since middle school. He is still for the most part charming, clever and fun to be around, but when he gets angry he can be just as much of a terror as he was when he was younger. He is quick to get violent and he genuinely enjoys fighting, though he has no formal training and isn't particularly physically large. He is far more careful to avoid confrontation in school than he was when he was young, though, so as to avoid getting in trouble, often picking fights during school hours and resolving them later off school grounds. He doesn't put as much effort into his schoolwork as he did when he was younger, as he prefers to spend his time on other things now, but he is smart enough that he typically gets by with Bs and occasional Cs. Aside from his regular coursework, Axel has recently started to teach himself Korean as a means of trying to reconnect with his mother's side of the family. Some cursory internet research in attempting to find them proved fruitless, but he is vaguely aware that his mother's parents spoke little English, if any, and so he decided to pick up some Korean in the hopes that he could eventually find them. His self-study is slow going; he can write in Hangul and knows some basic vocabulary and grammar, but not anything more advanced than a native small child might be capable of.

Though Axel's parents give him some pocket money, he has taken to busking sometimes in his free time to earn some extra money. His guitar skills have not evolved much over time and are still fairly elementary, and he sticks to basic chords for the most part. His voice, on the other hand, is surprisingly strong. He uses his pocket money mostly on video games and books, two hobbies he's retained over the years, though he doesn't discuss them much as they conflict with his image. He does play games with a number of other students through a George Hunter gamer Discord channel, and he openly discusses playing games like Overwatch and League of Legends, but he keeps his fondness for role-playing games and other things he considers too nerdy a secret. He also managed to scrounge together enough money to buy an old, cheap pick-up truck, which he often sleeps in when he's too angry at his parents to go home.

Axel puts forth a very convincing image of a lovable lout. He is well-known at George Hunter as a heavy partier, a bit of a flirt, and a dangerous person to mess with. Only his closest friends are aware of just how insecure he is. His experiences with his past families has left him with severe trust issues and in constant need of validation just to convince him that he isn't completely worthless, validation that he seeks primarily through his music and his constant hookups. He is constantly afraid of losing the things he cares about and clings jealously to them, whether they be objects or people. Axel does truly believe that he and his band are good enough to make it big, and he hasn't applied to any colleges, planning instead to pursue music when he graduates high school. His memories of his birth parents are vague, but he carries his childhood memories of his father especially close to his heart. He still has his father's old clothes, which fit him nearly perfectly now, and he wears his old jacket almost every day. He considers it a constant reminder of who he hopes to be, and who he hopes will someday be proud of him.

Advantages: Axel has quite a bit of experience with fighting, though he has no formal training, and is more capable than the average person of getting through a scrap. He has cast a wide social web and is generally well-liked. People know that he can be quite dangerous when angered and might want to avoid messing with him.

Disadvantages: Axel has a powerful temper that is easily set off, and he is liable to make stupid and rash decisions when angered. He is likely too confident in his abilities and might jump into a fight where he is clearly outmatched. He smokes cigarettes regularly, which limits his lung capacity and ensures that he will quickly become more irritable and ill-tempered if he runs out of or is denied them.

Designated Number: Male student No. 004

---

Designated Weapon: Knife-wielding tentacle

Conclusion: Decent physical capacity ruined by a temper that's just going to get himself killed. What a waste. Oh and before you ask, we're not letting you have your cigs, B004. Didn't you know that smoking's bad for you? - Trent Camden

'The above biography is as written by Fenris. No edits or alterations to the author's original work have been made.'

Evaluations
Handled by: Fenris

Kills: None

Killed By: Lorenzo Tavares

Collected Weapons:  Knife-wielding tentacle (assigned weapon, knife removed, to Coriander Silverman)

Allies: Coriander Silverman, Morgan Dragosavich, Helena Fury, Abraham Watanabe

Enemies: Lorenzo Tavares, Lucas Brady

Mid-game Evaluation: 

Post-Game Evaluation: 

Memorable Quotes:

Other/Trivia

 * Fenris won the February 2020 Best Death Award for Axel's death.

Threads
Below are a list of threads containing Axel, in chronological order:

The Past: V7 Pregame: Prom: The Trip: V7:
 * Studied The Practical Tactics Of Pickups...
 * you can go your own way
 * youngblood
 * Life Between The Lines
 * A Fucked Up Kind Of Feminine
 * Expanding Your Horizons
 * give me love like them
 * are you having a bad time?
 * Evergreen
 * The History of Wrong Guys (#SwiftBall)
 * somewhere far away from mr. right (#SwiftBall)
 * The History of Wrong Guys (Second visit to thread)
 * baby, you're the highlight of my lowlife
 * Room 709 but not quite: Fight!
 * Room 713: We Didn't Start the Fire (Yet) (Content Warning)
 * Dead Bxdies in the Lake
 * Break Your Halo
 * The Unavoidable Sun
 * We Don't Need Another Song About California
 * it's future rust and it's future dust
 * I Came In The Name Of The Dead, To Bring My Neck To The Blade
 * We Don't Need Another Song About California (Second visit to thread)
 * my heart will be blacker than your eyes when i'm through with you
 * i hope you know that you were worth it all along
 * cause you're my king and i'm your lionheart

Your Thoughts
''Whether you were a fellow handler in SOTF or just an avid reader of the site, we'd like to know what you thought about Axel Fontaine. What did you like, or dislike, about the character? Let us know here!''